Horoscope
by geromeee
Summary: It all started with Latvia... (ABANDONED)
1. Splashes of Blood

A/N

Well, this is the beginning of a new multichap story for me. Bring out the champagne people, let us smash it against the boat that is this story! I'm really excited about this story. It's not really my best writing ever, but for fanfiction, I think this is good. Well, I'll see you at the bottom of the story. Until then, have fun reading, and try to keep up... Please have mercy on my atrocious, bland style of writing. This story is a practice tool for me, made to make my story-telling skills sharper. Thank you for clicking on this story! I cannot thank you enough!

:D

Disclaimer is not feeling dissed: Dont diss the disclaimer! I dont own Hetalia.

The french in this story means: I still love you. Forever, like I promised.

* * *

><p><em>Disarm, disarm. The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.<em>  
><strong>~Julia Ward Howe<strong>

Latvia liked to be alone on Sundays. It was his day of relaxation, and ever since he broke away from the Soviet Union, it was when he would spend all his time alone. He could eat what he liked, sleep in an extra hour, or do something completely useless but fun and sometimes worthwhile. Sometimes he would receive visitors, such as the other Baltics, and sometimes his friend Peter. Other times Russia and Belarus would stop by his house unannounced and he would promptly either serve them tea or hide in a closet shivering. Usually he just served them tea. Sometimes, if they arrived around lunchtime, he would have his guests eat with him.

Raivis' favorite time of day was lunch time. He would always make his own lunch and sit down by himself to eat it, and marvel at the silence and the atmosphere that wasn't scary at all. He felt rather hungry today, so he set himself on making a large meal. He arranged some _rupjmaize_ on a plate, with some slices of cold ham, pickled cabbage, and cucumbers. He hummed cheerfully as he diced an egg and tossed that on his plate as well.

_Ah yes,_ he thought. _Today is a nice, uneventful day._

He poured some Kvass into a cup and set it on his dining room table. Raivis returned to the kitchen to retrieve his plate, when he heard a knocking on the door. He looked up, startled at first, then smiled.

"It's probably just Peter coming to annoy me. Or perhaps Mr. Russia coming to harass me," he said to himself.

_Well, it's been forever since I've had a guest. I should go let whoever it is in!_

Whistling cheerfully, he unabashedly skipped to the door and unlatched the lock. Just as he was about to open the door, He heard the familiar smash of china plates breaking in the kitchen. Completely forgetting that someone was at the door, he rushed back to the kitchen.

It was a Sunday, and his few servants had taken the day off. Nobody else lived with Latvia; he lived alone. He had no pets running around, not since the fall of the Soviet Union. He remembered setting his plate down in the center of his kitchen island. It hadn't been hanging precariously or anything, which meant somebody was inside his house.

Somebody had broken in.

A primal fear clutched at his heart, making it beat erratically.

Just as he reached the kitchen, he heard his front door slam. If it had truly been Mr. Russia who had come to see him, then he wouldn't have even knocked. He would've just climbed in through the window, or shown up in the dead of night. Estonia and Lithuania would always call first, and Sealand always knocked on his door. Canada wouldn't come in unless Latvia showed him in himself.

Once again the thought struck him:

_A stranger is in my house._

The thought was followed by a pounding, searing pain in his chest, like a burning sword had been plunged into it. He retched, than coughed up blood.

_My heart! Riga…._ He thought desperately. _My capitol is in danger!_

His people were his life, the only reason he hadn't given up on life much earlier. And now he felt them dying, each screaming child and parent. He let out a choked scream and retched out some more blood. The taste of acidic rust and salt swam in his mouth and black spots danced in his vision.

Suddenly, he heard a shuffle of steps behind him. Adrenaline shot through him. A person, dressed in a black sweater with a pearly-white, full-face plaster mask stood before him. A scarf hung loosely around their shoulders. On the forehead of the pearly mask, a small golden arrow, which Latvia recognized as the symbol of Sagittarius, was embossed. The mask's had on an expression of happiness, with curved, arched eyebrows and a close lipped smile, which appeared almost demonic in the dim lighting of Latvia's house.

A jolt of cold went through Raivis as he once again fought the urge to vomit. The stranger had a long metal pipe in one hand, and was twirling it idly. In the other hand, they held a long tapered carving knife, which glinted menacingly as the killer tightened their grip on it. He was vaguely reminded of Russia and Belarus and his stomach twisted. He knew why the person was here.

It only took him a few seconds to put together the pieces. Attacking a nation's capital was akin to a heart attack. But nations didn't die that easy. However, burning a capitol to the ground could make them mortal. And here was a person standing in front of him, with a heavy iron pipe and a knife. He knew what they were here for. Whoever they were, they were here to kill him. And here he was, lying like an invalid on the ground. He wasn't going to get murdered. No, he still had many things he had to do with his life; he had only recently gained his independence, only recently grown a little taller without Russia there to push down on his head! He had made friends, too.

He wasn't going down without a fight.

The intruder stepped forward. Latvia scooted back, pushing his pain to the back of his mind. He could smell the cinders of the burning city; he could taste blood, rusty and salty… He blanched, and fought back the urge to puke again.

_Focus. Stay Alive._

Raivis jolted up, at the same time as the intruder threw their carving knife with alarming speed and dexterity. It lodged itself in his arm and he yelled in pain, feeling the agonizing rip of muscle and tissue, yet also a sense of relief. If he hadn't gotten up swiftly, that knife most surely would've hit him square in the heart. His attacker strolled towards him leisurely, as if they had all the time in the world. Raivis gulped and turned on his heel, clambering up the stairs.

He ran through his house, clutching his bleeding arm that dangled limply at his side. He was frantically searching for any door or window that was unlocked, so that he could escape the maniac who had attacked him. He heard feet pattering behind him, and a slightly maniacal chuckle. "No, please… Don't hurt me!" Tears pricked at the edge of his eyes.

He tried opening his bedroom door, there was a window in there… And it was locked. Panic clutched at him, as a new wave of pain washed over him. He ignored the fear that bubbled in his brain, that spoke of imminent doom, and pushed on.

_Maybe the guest room, then?_

Raivis breathed heavily, though trying to resist it, as he ran through his house. Where was the person who was chasing him? Maybe I lost that monster…

He suddenly heard a bang behind him. His attacker was standing there, the smiling mask grinning almost maniacally.

Raivis backed up against the wall, stuttering. "Please, wait… I- I don't understand!"

His assailant chuckled darkly.

"Help!" he called out, hoping that someone, anyone would hear him.

The attacker raised their pipe high into the air, almost theatrically, before bashing it into Latvia's skull. He crumpled to the floor in a heap, blood seeping out of his head, as he struggled to keep consciousness. The assailant grinned as they slipped off their plaster mask that covered their face, and let it hang around their neck, allowing Raivis to see their face. Raivis' eyes widened in shock as the heathen slowly paced towards the room's exit.

" You! But… why?" Raivis croaked, before he took one last shuddering breath.

His attacker stopped in the doorway, as if suddenly remembering something. He or she turned back, and grabbed Latvia by the scruff of the neck, dragging him across the floor to a large window. The assailant unlatched the window and flung the young boy, head facing down, out the window. They watched as the body crashed to the pavement, and a pool of blood began collecting underneath it. The assailant then wiped their gloves on their pants and walked out of the doorway, whistling a jaunty tune. They smashed the glass of a window in the hallway and leapt out of the hole, deftly landing on their feet.

* * *

><p>Lithuania missed Latvia's diarrhea of the mouth. As strange as the phrase sounded, it suited the way Latvia used to talk, and was an almost endearing quality, now that he looked back on it. Now he would never hear that voice again…<p>

Going to a funeral on Saturday was unexpected to say the least, much less Latvia's funeral. Latvia had always been the sweetest of souls, and the greatest shock was why Raivis would fling himself out of a window. Estonia and Lithuania were beside themselves, wondering why Latvia would do such a thing. Though the pain of a capital being bombed was treacherous, it wasn't enough for a country to commit suicide. Though perhaps it had been for Latvia? Ivan was mourning not 'becoming one' with Latvia before he died, and was '_kol_'ing sadly.

The worst of all of them was Peter, who, upon hearing of his best friend's death, promptly proceeded to lock himself in England's guest room for a whole afternoon. At least, that was according to England. The Sealand at the funeral right now seemed calm and collected, only a tear or two escaping his eyes. Perhaps he had come to terms with Latvia's death. After all, he was born during the Second World War; he had to have experience with death, having started out as a military fort.

Lithuania sighed and settled into the hard wooden pew next to Estonia. It was a closed-casket funeral, against Latvian tradition, but it was decided that it was for the best, because of the state of the body. A preacher stood up on a pulpit set up on a small stage in the church, a Latvian flag lazily fluttering behind him. Another Latvian flag was draped over the wooden coffin, with a bouquet of roses lying on top. December winds gusted through the cracks in the windows, and Toris wrapped his scarf around him tighter. As the preacher began with a prayer, Lithuania leaned his head back in thought.

Why would Raivis kill himself?

A soft whispering behind him caught his attention. Alfred-No, that couldn't be Alfred, his hair was too long, and Nantucket was absent, with a loopy curl in its place…The Alfred-lookalike was whispering furiously to an attention-rapt Gilbert (which was quite a rare occurrence, Gilbert had the attention span of a fly). Lithuania caught wisps of the conversation, which went as such:

"...had good relations with Raivis. I knew … well! He wouldn't … killed himself! I'm telling you…"

"Are… sure Mattie? Poor guy… always trembling when I saw… Back in the un-awesome Warsaw Pact days, he was always crying." Gilbert replied, eyebrows furrowed

"Of course I'm sure! I went … talked to the coroner, and … cleaned the wound in his head, he looked like he was hit in the head with a blunt object!"

Toris stiffened.

Gilbert snorted. "He _was_ hit by a blunt object, the ground."

'Mattie' swatted his shoulder half-heartedly. "Don't joke around…we're…funeral! Not only that, there was a stab wound in his shoulder! "

He noticed that this Alfred-lookalike was very quiet, barely ever speaking over a breathy whisper.

Toris nudged Eduard, who was leaning back, listening as intently as he was. Of the two of them, he was closer to Latvia, and Toris knew his death rattled him more than he let on. If there was any chance that Latvia was murdered, he would be the first to want revenge. Though they may have denied it, their grouping together as the Baltic states made them brothers, and brothers avenged one another, when they were murdered.

"Do you believe what this 'Mattie' is saying?" Toris hissed to Eduard.

He nodded. "Without a doubt. Canada isn't the type of person to make assumptions without proof, but I can't think of anyone who would want him dead…"

_Canada? Where was that? Ah, well, it was an unimportant question_.

His gaze fell on a white haired man in the front row. Toris's eyes narrowed.

"Russia…" the two remaining Baltics whispered simultaneously.

"If what the Alfred-lookalike said is true, and Latvia was murdered with a blunt object to the head…" Lithuania breathed.

Estonia gulped and ran his hands through his hair. "You and I both know that Russia always carries that old sink pipe of his with him."

He nodded. "We'll talk to him after the burial."

Eduard shook his head. "No. We'll go to his house next week. There are some things we need to check before accusing him of murder."

x-X-x

The sight of Francis in a bar was unusual, let alone an English bar. Contrary to popular belief, Francis was only a social drinker. He would sometimes get drunk, however these times were rare. Also unusual was the fact that he was drinking himself into oblivion with _Angleterre_. Both nations, though they didn't show it, were extremely rattled by Raivis' death. Even though they barely knew the little nation, they were quite upset, especially Francis. He hated death, which he regarded as the enemy of _l'amour_, and Raivis' death reminded him of his own mortality.

Francis glanced at England, who was staring deep into his second shot glass, eyes glazed over, babbling some nonsense about a 'flying mint bunny' and a unicorn, of all things. He shook his head and sighed. Arthur always was a lightweight, to his own embarrassment, but he never assumed that he would get drunk so fast. Francis, however, could hold his own with liquor, and was still sober enough to drive. He reached into Arthurs back pocket, grabbing his keys and copping a feel while he was at it. Arthur was too far gone to even notice.

As he was hoisting Arthur off his seat (to which the smaller man was protesting), his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. A text. He flipped it open and read the message, smiling. Now sending pervy texts Francis did do on a regular basis. He smiled. How dirty… who knew that she had it in her? Oh, well, if it was her… well, he could do with a quick, romantic fling tonight, after he dropped _Angleterre_ off at his own house.

x-X-x

By the time he got home, she was already waiting on his bed, perched on the corner, just as lovely as she always was. She slipped off the bed and glided over to him gracefully, greeting him with a long, deep kiss. He moaned against her lips, and let his hands roam around her body. She pulled away and began nibbling on his jaw. A shiver ran down Francis' spine, and just as he was beginning to enjoy himself, his thoughts stopped cold. A Jolt of pain clutched at his heart. That's when he felt it. Paris. No, no, no, anything but Paris.

They could take Versailles, Nice, even his quaint little countryside. But not Paris. But he felt it, that strange burning feeling that started into his heart and spread into his stomach. The next thing he knew, he was retching and blood spilled out of his mouth. His brain began thinking abnormally fast. The girl had called him here. Paris was being destroyed. This wasn't a coincidence. This was planned.

Latvia… he thought. I was next this whole time.

He didn't stop the girl as she pushed him down and jammed a knife into his throat. She was far too quick for him, and the sensation of not being able to breath was painful and agonizing. His body instinctually gasped for breath, even though his brain knew that all his efforts were useless. He felt the girl let go of the knife, but the pressure at his throat remained. She slipped on a half-face mask with the golden symbol for Pisces on her forehead. She flashed him a grin and ran out of the room. Francis fell to the floor, still gasping for breath, his mind spinning. Everytime he gasped for breath, he could feel the knife jiggling in his windpipe, and he became dizzy. The taste of blood faded away, and black spots danced in his eyes. He could feel himself dying, and he wasn't afraid.

He would be with his petit lapin now.

He had no qualms. After all, French was an immortal language. Perhaps, after they rebuilt Paris, he would be reborn…

Perhaps.

His last thoughts were of Jean. He would go out bravely, like her.

_Je t'aime toujours. Toujours, comme nous l'avions promis._

Francis thought he could hear angel's singing as he left the world. He didn't know that it was merely the girl's humming, as she returned with one of his kitchen knives.

x-x

England stalked into his house grumpily, locking the door behind him. He hung his keys on their designated hook and kicked off his stuffy black shoes and trudged to the living room. God, he was going to have a headache in the morning. That Francis! Who did that frog think he was, thinking he was drunk just because he was talking to Flying Mint Bunny and Uni? Honestly, the nerve of that Frenchman. He had even pinched his bottom! Honestly, the nerve! Arthur flopped down on a couch and pulled up his legs, leaning on the armrest.

Sealand was mooching in front of the telly, hugging a pillow to his chest, and shoveling popcorn into his mouth, which wasn't out of the norm. What was out of the norm was what he was watching. Judging by the dark shadows, the sounds of a girl shrieking, and the revving of a chainsaw, Sealand was watching a horror movie. Usually, Sealand would (though he would never admit it) watch a nice, innocent romantic comedy. Why was he watching a scary movie when he was such a coward?

Arthur decided to voice this question out loud.

"Why are you watching a scary movie? Usually you're a chicken."

Peter shrugged. "I don't know. Guess it was time for a change…" He continued shoving popcorn into his mouth.

_The poor lad must be so lonely without Raivis._

Arthur sighed. "Where did you get it?" even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"'Nicked it, from Alfred's house."

"What did I tell you about nicking stuff from your brother?"

Sealand mumbled something through a mouthful of popcorn.

"What did you say Peter?"

He furiously spat out the popcorn on England's coffee table. Arthur winced.

"Maybe I would listen to you if you stopped acting like I was only part of this family when you want to scold me."

Arthur blanched. "W-wh-why you little ingrate! You wanted to be acknowledged, and I'm acknowledging you right now, aren't i?"

Sealand smiled bitterly and stood up, brushing popcorn kernals off his pants.

"I never said I wanted to be acknowledged as a wayward child Arthur. I wanted to be acknowledged as a nation, instead of a micro-nation. In truth, Arthur, you only acknowledge somebody as being important when they start causing trouble for you. Even though France is annoying, at least he doesn't have to kidnap nations to pretend he has friends!"

England bristled in fury. "I've never kidnapped anyone!"

Sealand rolled his eyes and made his way down the hallway, heading towards the front door. England noticed that the boy was taller than he had been half a year ago.

"What would you call it then, Artie?" Sealand quipped, resorting to the annoying nickname Alfred had given him. "Surprise adoption?" Peter laughed. They were at the door now. "No wonder everyone has left you!"

Oh, now Arthur was angry. "Name one! Name one person who's left me of their own will!"

Sealand shrugged. "Alfred. You were smothering him pretty bad, I heard. Me, Malta, India, Myanmar, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Sierra Leone, Sudan…"

"Shut up," England mumbled.

Sealand grinned, jabbing the proverbial sword at England even farther. "Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Guyana, Seychelles, Bahamas, Maldives, Jamaica, Afghanistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Swaziland, Belize, Oh, He hated you! Saint Kitts and Nevis…"

England was covering his ears now "Stop!" he screamed. "Stop, Stop, Stop!" he whined.

Sealand laughed maliciously, taking pleasure in the discomfort of the older brother who had often forsaken him.

"Now, who else? Ah, yes. Bahrain, Kenya, Australia, Iraq, Ceylon-oh, she made the best tea! Brunei, Kuwait, Grenada, Gambia, Ghana, and Tanzania! Have I gotten everyone who hates you, brother dearest? No, perhaps not, If I was counting people who hate you, it would extend past your colonies, wouldn't it?"

Arthur was now on his knees, holding back tears, a scene reminiscent of the Revolutionary War.

Sealand tapped his chin thoughtfully as he threw on a coat and scarf, preparing to go outside. "There's still so many I haven't named… I know I'm forgetting someone big though… Ah, yes! Canada! He always did like Francis better, you know."

At this, England exploded. "GET OUT! Get out of my house now!"

Sealand threw open the door, laughing boisterously as a harsh wind blew in powdery gusts of snow. "Big brother has claws now, has he? Well, I better go. I have a conference to attend tomorrow!" He ran off into the snow, still laughing.

Arthur shut the door behind his younger brother, shivering from the gusts of cold blown in. A hot shower, yes that was what he needed.

He clambered upstairs, in a hurry to wash off the chill that Sealand had cast over him.

Everyone hated him? _Poppycock. _

Conference to attend? _Balderdash. _

Alfred surely didn't hate him, did he? _Even if he does celebrate his Independence Day with unbridled enthusiasm…_

He stripped his clothes off and clambered into the shower, turning on the hot water to its highest setting, and standing there as wisps of steam curled around him. It reminded him of warm rain. It had been raining the day Alfred left him… He shook his head. No. He was going to shake all depressing thoughts from his head.

He stood under the hot water for a few moments, not even bothering to reach for any form of soap or shampoo, before deciding to get out. The water brought back too many painful memories.

Arthur looked around the bathroom. The foggy steam was so thick that he was vaguely reminded of his fabulous pea soup. He felt around until he found his towel, hanging from a peg on the back of his door. He hastily wrapped the towel around his hips, securing it extra tightly just in case any unwelcome surprises (namely, Francis) were waiting outside his door. He opened the door and was hit by a rush of cool air. As he made his way into his adjoining bedroom, he felt strange. Like a bit of magic was hanging in the air.

_Ah, well, I am magical. It must just be some residue from my last spell_. He thought distractedly, as he rifled through his nightstand drawers to pull out some pyjamas.

A small rustling noise distracted him from his goal, however, as a small strip of paper floated down from his nightstand to the floor. He gingerly picked it up, careful not to crease or bend it. He read it, noting the curly, feminine handwriting, and the twelve golden zodiac symbols embossed on the stationary.

_**Hey England.**_

_Just so you know, we're saving you for last. You know, the one who annoys the killers the most always gets killed last. It's kind of like a treat after a long day's work, you know? Anyway, It's nothing personal. Well, actually, in your case, it is __**VERY**__ personal. Keep that in mind. You might want to stay on your toes. We'll keep in touch._

_-__**The Zodiac Killers**_

_P.S. You might want to check on Frenchie. I believe he's already bled out, no?_

Arthur's blood went cold as he read the last sentence. No, not Francis…

Nations don't die.

But Latvia did.

England clutched the paper and ran out of the room.

x-x-x

A young man in a mask strode down a dark street in Chicago, nervously patting his pocket every three seconds to make sure his gun was still there. His mask, the classic happy-sad face drama mask, shined as he walked under street lamps, the symbol of the zodiac sign for Gemini glinting cheerfully on both cheeks. He anxiously wrung his hands, searching for the meeting place. He was told Aquarius would be waiting outside the warehouse.

_Just up ahead… Scorpio told me it was the third warehouse to the left._

He turned a corner, and saw Aquarius leaning against the huge double doors that were held open by a few cinder blocks. Aquarius narrowed his eyes and lifted up Gemini's mask to check if he was really Gemini. He nodded in approval as he saw Gemini's face, and gestured for him to go inside. A man of few words, and self-preservation; that was Aquarius.

Gemini walked inside, spotting the other Zodiac members sitting around an elliptical table. Pisces had her feet propped up on the table, sharpening a knife on the metal edge of the table, Capricorn watching her with jaded interest. Taurus, and Libra were napping, their heads resting on the table. Leo was decorating their mask, painting it and adding a faux lion's mane. It was looking less and less frightening by the second. Gemini shook his head in disbelief. Gemini noted that a few people were missing, most notably Sagittarius and Boss. He plopped down in a chair next to Aries, who was being chatted up by Scorpio.

"So where's Boss? And Saggy?" He quipped to both of them.

Aries and Scorpio shrugged.

"I dunno where Boss is," Aries replied "But Saggy is somewhere in Europe right now, dealing with a run-in with either the Italian or Russian Mafia. Saggy didn't specify, but I think it was a joke...I have no idea where the rest are"

Scorpio giggled. "Saggy? We're going to be butchered in our sleep! Or bludgeoned…"

"Please," Gemini scoffed " I'll just give Saggy-babe a noogie."

Aries sighed and pulled out a notebook, idly sketching what looked like the start of a horse.

Gemini grinned with mirth as Scorpio ruffled his hair.

_It feels good to belong, for once,_ Gemini thought wistfully.

* * *

><p>AN

So, who do you think the killers are? And who is going to be killed next? Leave me a review with your anwser so I know if I am doing a good job, or I am being too obvious ;). Many thanks to my Beta-Reader Kagome and my friend Kiki, who helped me with the first chapter.

The identities of some of the killers WILL surprise you. Or not. Maybe you're really smart or a really good guesser. You wont be finding out any identities for sure until at least chapter 10. Expect the next chapter next Friday! Until then, goodbye, thank you for reading, and please honor me, by leaving a review!


	2. Not a Suicide

Greetings, my lovely readers! I bring to you this chapter, lovely and beta-ed, and _slightly _edited! Much love to my Beta-reader, Kagomegirl2004. She is superb :)

Shameless plug for myself: I made a Facebook just for you guys! My name is Andromeda Mason, feel free to add me! I'll be putting some of my 'Early Morning' Hetalia fanart on there as well, if you want to see it.

Any guesses for who the killers are? I feel like I dropped a bunch of clues in this chapter.

As for nation names:

Wy is Sheila and Seborga is Marcello.

Some OC's make cameos in this chapter, but dont worry, they aren't major parts of the story. the only ones with names are:

Lundy Island: Larry

Other World Kingdom: Antoinette

The coroner: Vezzini Bendiks

Well, enjoy this chapter, and be sure to leave feedback in the form of reviews! I dont own anything except for my few OC's.

* * *

><p>X-X-X<p>

_Each murder is one too many. _

_~Jurgen Habermas _

All was silent in the backseat of the taxi cab they had hailed in Daugavpils, Latvia. The elderly cab driver sneezed and rubbed his nose, turning up the radio with his other hand, keeping the steering wheel in check with his knee. Lithuania looked at him nervously until he put his hands back on the steering wheel, and then Estonia finally spoke.

"We're here," he said, pointing towards the coroner's office, a battered plaque nailed above the door.

They paid the cabbie, climbed the stairs slowly, and opened the door. A _ding _sounded when they opened it, and the young receptionist looked up, momentarily startled. "Can I help you?" she asked uncertainly.

Eduard leaned forward, palms on the hard wooden counter, a small smile on his face. "Yes. We are officials from the Estonian and Lithuanian governments, coming to question the coroner, ."

She looked up sharply. "May I inquire about the topic of questioning?" she asked shrewdly.

Eduard shrugged. "We are here to investigate the death of Raivis Galante. We understand his post-mortem was held here, and that you took photos of the body. We are here to procure these photos, or copies of them, and question Mr. Bendiks."

She arched her eyebrows, tapping her pen against her desk nervously. "May I ask why you are investigating the death of Mr. Galante?"

"He was a government official responsible for international affairs. We would like to question now, if you don't mind ma'am." he said, adding in a bit of force at the end.

She narrowed her eyes. "I'll need to see some identification first, and then I will have to inform ."

A rustle of official looking papers later, Toris and Eduard were sitting on the hard chairs next to the receptionists desk, waiting. The receptionist had gone down the hallway, her heels clacking, to fetch the coroner, who was 'seeing to somebody'.

"Poland is on standby, right?" whispered Eduard.

Toris nodded silently.

Five minutes later, they were following her down the hallway to formal office. Toris looked around as they walked down the hallway, their footsteps echoing and bouncing against the wall. They passed a room of bodies, cloaked in white sheets, and a room of strange metallic fixtures and iron tables on wheels. As they passed under a vent, a gust of cool air hit them, sending shivers down Toris' spine.

This place had its own brand of creepy, and the man in charge of it matched it perfectly.

Vezzini Bendiks was a small man. His face shrunk into itself, with the exception of the nose, which protruded sharply into a beak-like hook. Though he was short, when he stood up to shake their hands, he seemed to look down on them, despite his height, and had eyes that seemed to x-ray their souls.

sat down, twiddling his thumbs as he looked at them for a second. After a moment of silence,and a staring contest with Eduard, he finally spoke.

"I understand that you have come for the photos in relation to …" he stated, glassy eyed, whilst toying with a pen.

Eduard nodded. "Yes. We were told that we would find the records we needed here."

The man nodded slowly. "You were right in thinking that you would find the records at their origin, and not with the government. However, we are not authorized to give you the records."

Eduard nodded again. "We expected as much." In his pocket, he was texting Toris the fateful words that would undoubtedly cause trouble and ruckus.

**To: Toris **

**SMS: Time for Plan B. Call Poland.**

Toris smiled almost evilly, and stood up.

"Excuse me Mr. Bendiks, I have to make a quick call. May I step out?"

The man gestured with his hand to the door. "Feel free."

As Toris stepped out, he heard Eduard talking to the man. "Now, Mr. Bendiks, can you please tell me more about your profession? It seems very interesting…"

XxXxX

Toris stood in the hallway, dialing Poland's number into his phone and waiting for the dial tone.

_Rinnnnnnngggg…_

_Rinnnnnnngggg…_

_Rinnnnnnngggg…_

_"Like, hello?"_

"Feliks, are you in position?"

_"Liet! Of course I am! Like, what else would I be here for? I am totally going to rock this place's socks off. You are going to be laughing on the inside, dude…either that, or dying of mortification."_

Lithuania sighed exasperatedly. "Just play your part as the distraction, okay?"

_"Like, okay!"_

And Feliks hung up.

_One of these days_, Lithuania swore to himself, _I am going to hang up before him_.

x-X-X-X-x

When Lithuania stepped back inside, he found Eduard and Vezzini Bendiks talking animatedly about Vezzini's workplace. Within two minutes, he was roped along on a tour of one of the most creepiest places he had ever seen. Part one of the plan was in motion.

In accordance to the plan, he left his phone in Mr. Bendiks office.

All was set. Now all he had to do was play along with what Eduard said, until his cue.

"So, , where do you get your supplies?"

The man puffed up proudly, resembling a blowfish. "I order them from a liquidation center in Romania, they have very good supplies for a very cheap price."

Eduard turned to him and subtly winked, before flashing him his phone's screen.

"Oh, Toris, could you give me the time?"

Toris felt around his pocket for his phone, putting on a show for Vezzini Bendiks. "Oh my, my phone must be in your office Mr. Bendiks! May I go get it?"

He waved his hand at me dismissively. "By all means, go."

I began walking down the hallway, and just as I was walking around the corner, I heard the receptionist screaming down the corridor.

"Mr. Bendiks, there is a naked man dancing with the corpses in room 35!"

_Ah, Poland… you never do anything by half, do you?_ He thought as he unexpectedly snickered nervously.

He found his way back to Mr. Bendiks office easy enough. Toris picked his phone up from where he left it, on the coffee table, and shoved it into his the front pocket of his trousers. The man, , was undoubtedly dim, as Latvia's file was where he left it, on his desk. He grabbed it and slipped it into his jacket, holding it in place with his arm pressed to his side. Toris heard a crash and glass shattering from the hallway and decided it was best to exit using the window, as opposed to the door.

Thanking God that they were on the first floor, Toris slipped out of the window behind desk and landed on his feet on the pavement below. He quickly whipped out his phone, and texted Feliks and Eduard to 'get the hell out of that building!'

He waited calmly in the alleyway for Feliks and Eduard, and was quite startled when Eduard came down the alleyway by himself.

"Where's Feliks?" He asked, slightly worried. Feliks always had the tendency to get in trouble when alone.

Eduard smiled calmly. "He had some business at his home to take care of, so he headed for the airport. Come on, let's look at the file."

Lithuania flipped it open, handing the glossy enlarged photo's to Eduard, who instantly winced, and cried out, "Latvia~! Oh my, what happened!"

Toris grimaced as he read over the file. He didn't want to look at the pictures; he had had enough queasiness today just imagining a naked Poland dancing with corpses.

Not that a naked Poland was the source of complaint. Corpses just made him...uneasy.

Ahem, back to the files. He scanned over the information in the file. Apparently, Raivis had a wound in the shoulder that was most likely from a serrated blade, and concave dents and holes in his head that had traces of metal in them. He also had signs of a heart attack, which he knew was the result of Riga burning to the ground.

Lithuania nudged Eduard with his elbow, taking care not to drop the file. "So far, reading this, it looks like murder, and through the methods, all I can think about is Belarus and Russia."

Eduard nodded, deep in thought. "Do you want to see the pictures?' he asked absentmindedly.

Toris shook his head vigorously. He didn't need to be mentally disturbed today.

"Toris…" began Eduard uncertainly. "If it truly was a murder, then why was it reported as a suicide?"

Toris froze in thought. "Well, there are a few legitimate reasons that I can count off the top of my head. The Latvian government could possibly not want it to get out that they are vulnerable right now because someone stronger than them ended their nations life. They could also want to stop the other countries from panicking if someone killed Raivis. Another reason could be if they were threatened. And yet another reason-"

"Stop right there!" Eduard commanded. "Everything you're saying right now ties into the government, which means we have to go to the president, _right now!"_

Lithuania put his hands up in the universal 'calm down' gesture. "Keep calm, Eduard. We don't have to go, do we?"

Eduard crossed his arms and hissed, "How do we know he isn't the one who killed Latvia, pray tell? How do we know he isn't slumped over dead right now, hmm? How do we know he isn't escaping the country, a guilty man, right now? I don't know about you, but I need to find him."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll go with you. He's currently in the Concord House, that's where the remainder of the government is based right now. That's in the Historical City Centre, and about a twenty minutes' drive away from here. Let's just get a taxi and get it over with. Why do you NEED to find him anyway?"

Estonia showed him the frightening text message that was displayed on the screen of his phone.

**From: Encrypted Caller**

_**A country only truly falls without a leader.**_

"Dear lord, we have to get over there as fast as we can." Lithuania breathed.

Estonia nodded, as they ran into the street and hailed the first taxi cab they saw.

* * *

><p>X-x-X-X<p>

Scorpio lazily flipped the page of the magazine, reading the next page with glazed over eyes. Another flip of a page, then multiple flips, _thwip, thwip, thwip, _sounded through the room until Virgo calmly got up and walked across the room until she was parallel to him. Scorpio, oblivious, kept flipping the pages rapidly, until she speared a small dagger down the center of the magazine, pinning it to the table.

Scorpio pouted, "Hey, what gives! I was reading that!"

She calmly walked back to her seat, not even bothering to dignify Scorpio with an answer.

Scorpio grunted, "Bitch."

He was rewarded with the feeling of wind whizzing past his left ear as a dagger flew past his head, lopping off a few strands of hair. As the tiny strands of hair floated to the ground, he grinned.

_Maybe she isn't such a pussy after all._

* * *

><p>Gemini lolled in his chair lazily, glancing at Aries every once in a while.<p>

"So…are you in a relationship?"

She glanced up, momentarily startled, then back to normal in a flash.

"No. For the last time Gemini, I am not in a relationship, nor do I want to be in one. If you already know the answer, don't ask!"

They began squabbling good-naturedly, watched by Libra and Cancer, who were debating the odds of Gemini actually scoring a date with Aries.

Taurus had his head down, taking a nap, as usual. Behind him hung an assortment of weapons, including daggers, cleavers, guns, axes, rifles, and the odd deck of blade-tipped poker cards. Aquarius, who had come in a half-hour earlier, after a long flight, was texting someone half-heartedly, most likely directions for Sagittarius, who got lost easily in the streets of Chicago, and constantly needed a guide to get back to their headquarters.

Suddenly, dearest Sagittarius burst through the door in a manner that could only be described as giddy hyper-ness. This did not go unnoticed, especially seeing as the room was silent until he walked in, and when a rolling ball of energy walks into a room of mostly silent people, it tends to get loud quite quickly.

"I got food!" Sagittarius beamed proudly "I went to a pizza parlor somewhere downtown and bought like, four pizzas!"

Everybody clustered around Saggy as he made his way to the table, arms laden with pizza boxes. The pizza was set down on the table and Sagittarius flipped open the boxes.

"I didn't bring any plates, but hey, its pizza, we'll just eat with our hands!"

"What types of pizza did you get?" Aquarius asked.

"I got pepperoni, cheese, mushroom, and pineapple. The cheese and pepperoni is deep dish." Sagittarius grinned.

"I wanted a hot dog!" Scorpio whined.

"You'll get what you get, and like it!" Virgo growled. "If it was up to me, you would be locked up in a basement now, tied up, gagged, and being slowly starved to death!"

Scorpio, not missing a beat, grinned, and replied: "As long as it's your basement babe, then I have no problem at all with your BDSM fetish!"

Needless to say, Aries and Aquarius could barely restrain Virgo, and rope was needed. Scorpio ended up feeding a begrudgingly tied up Virgo pizza, and barely escaped with his fingers intact, though he did get bitten quite a bit.

The rest of them sat in a semicircle on the floor, the remainder of the pizza sitting in a single box in the middle.

"So what brought on the recent string of generosity, Saggy-dear?" Gemini asked, slipping his mask off and letting it hang around his neck.

Sagittarius shrugged, ignoring the nickname. "I wanted to celebrate my first kill with you guys, so I decided to treat you all to pizza. That is what Chicago is famous for, right?"

"Food-wise, yes. There's also the mafia, Twinkies, the Sears tower…oh, and Lake Michigan."

"I think the only thing that caught my attention was the Twinkies."

Aquarius's phone rang suddenly. The ringtone echoed throughout the warehouse, all of the killers silent.

_I can't decide_

_Whether you should live or die_

_Oh, you'll probably go to heaven_

_Please don't hang your head and cry_

_No wonder why_

_My heart feels dead inside_

_It's cold and hard and-_

He flipped open the phone, his fingers trembling a bit.

"Hello?"

He paled considerably as he nodded nervously. "Yes. I understand. Yeah, Sagittarius is back. Libra left the note at England's house, and Pisces is back. France is dead."

He paused for a second, listening.

"Yeah, I'll tell them…Oh, you want to tell them yourself. That's understandable" He listened a bit more. "Okay. Bye Boss."

He shut the phone looking a bit shaken. "Boss says that he has something to tell us when he gets here."

"Oh, shit." Scorpio deadpanned. Pisces and Capricorn shuddered, and even Virgo looked a bit queasy. Or maybe that was just because Scorpio had shoved an entire slice of pizza into Virgo's mouth at once. It could've have been both.

Then Aquarius grinned. "Also, boss says I'm in charge whenever he's gone! Isn't that great? We're going to have so much fun!"

Capricorn groaned, and Scorpio once again deadpanned.

"Once again, oh, shit."

"We're screwed!"

"Totally."

"Does anyone want the last slice of pizza? Any takers? No? Okay, I'll eat it then~!"

"Taurus! Where the hell did you come from!"

"PUT THE PIZZA DOWN, YOU COW!"

"He ate it! He ate the last slice!"

"Get back here fatass, so I can rip you a new one!"

Taurus just snickered and let himself be chased around the warehouse.

* * *

><p>Germany was there before England was. England had found him, frozen in shock, staring at a naked, mutilated body. He looked worse than he had seen him in a long time, even worse than the days of Hitler, when he was almost always shell-shocked. He was slumped on the ground, on his knees, just taring at the bloody body. Seeing Germany so vulnerable like that made a deep impression on him, almost as deep as the impression of the body that used to belong to Francis had. The body's condition itself was scarring.<p>

And it had all began with that dratted note on his bed stand.

After he had read the note, he had rushed to Francis's house as fast as he could, even though he knew in his mind that by the time he got there, it would already be too late. He had to see him first, to make sure with his own eyes, that he was dead. He couldn't let himself believe that dratted piece of paper until he saw the older man with his own eyes.

When he had arrived to Francis's house he had found Germany's car parked out front, the unmistakable olive green Bugatti idling in front of Francis's house. He felt his heart go cold.

No, Germany couldn't kill France.

_But his car is idling in the street!_

Arthur took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

_Germany wouldn't harm a fly! Even though he could, if he wanted to…_

He steeled himself and ran into the house, pushing through the front door, and looking for France.

"Francis? Francis! If you're alive, answer me!"

He entered the kitchen, panicking at the silence, and growing tense. "This isn't funny, Francis! Answer me!"

He heard a thump come from upstairs. He ran upstairs and found the door to Francis's bedroom ajar. Arthur slowly pushed it open, dreading what he was going to find.

What he found was indeed dreadful.

Francis lay, splayed out on the ground, stripped naked. A bloody dagger was lodged in his throat, the hilt starting to crust with blood. His arms were covered in scabby etchings that looked as if they had been carved in with a small knife or a large pin, and when Arthur looked closer, he realized that the etchings were of the horoscope symbols. His once beautiful face was now covered in large jagged cuts, as if someone had dragged a cleaver across his face. His abdomen was slashed as well, guts visible from the deep gash. His legs had little flowers carved into them, and all of his toes were hanging at an odd angle, like they had been snapped individually, one by one. The acrid smell of blood and death hung in the air.

Next to the body, was Germany, slumped over, pale and shuddering uncontrollably, arms wrapped around himself, as if he was cold. England felt himself slump to his knees.

Francis…No, No, No…

He crawled across the floor and set Francis's head in his lap and began to cry. Hot fat tears slowly ran down his ashen face. His shoulders hunched and a wracking sob came out, wretched and lonely, as England stroked the bloodstained hair of his dead best friend.

Death was always the best illuminator, and Illumination was a painful thing.

He had never acknowledged that they were even friends when Francis was alive. Now it was too late.

X-x-X

Meanwhile, Sealand was in a taxi in Reno, Nevada, on his way to Mollosia, where the League of Micronations' Meeting was being hosted this time around. Since Mollosia's boss, President Kevin Baugh, was on a state visit to the Imperial Kingdom of Calsahara, he had offered his house for the next meeting, which the micronations had eagerly agreed to.

He fidgeted slightly in his seat. It was so much warmer here than in Europe, but still slightly cold. Yet somehow, it was still colder, but in a different way. He leaned his forehead against the slightly chilly glass and gazed into the cloudy sky, which spoke of oncoming rain.

It was a lonely feeling, but he was born lonely. A war facility in the middle of the sea, with nobody to talk to and nobody rely on. Then England had abandoned him, and because of that, he always felt a bit of resentment and cautiousness when it came to people in general. He removed his forehead from the window, examining the small patch of slowly fading condensation left behind.

He sighed and sat on the edge of his chair as he saw the border of Mollosia, preparing to get out. As he closed his hand on the door handle, he tried to push thoughts of confidence into his mind.

_You're going to rock this joint. _

And that is _not_ a euphemism for anything.

X-x-X

The Other World Kingdom laughed boisterously as she sat in a chair at the head of the table, her legs balanced on a crouched-down Lundy Island who cowered underneath the table. Wy fluttered around her nervously.

"Antoinette…I don't think Larry wants to be your new man-slave."

She waved away her hand haughtily.

"Oh Sheila, don't be silly! He is a man, subservient to me, a woman. It is the natural order of things, no?"

Seborga slinked over and slung an arm over Wy's shoulder. She stiffened and he grinned, whispering something in her ear. She flushed furiously, screeching and waving his arm away.

"Marcello! What the hell?"

"Now's your chance! Enslave him!" Antoinette exclaimed excitedly

He just smirked down at her and she blushed furiously again, and Peter just stood in the doorway, clueless about what to do until he saw Mollosia sitting at the other head of the table, chatting passively with Hay-On-Wye , who was sitting to the left of him.

Sealand chose not to go sit with them right now. He didn't need to be stuck to them constantly for their plan for the meeting to work…

He advanced towards the table, plopping in the seat to the right of Mollosia, who nodded his head in greeting to him, before returning to his conversation with Hay-On-Wye about books. Talossa was sitting next to him, taking a nap, snoring ever so slightly.

Micronations kept arriving for the next half-hour, providing plenty of time for socializing that Sealand just spent drinking juice boxes. Finally, the last micronation arrived, Whangmomamona Republic, who was riding in on a goat, and remained sitting on it for the duration of the meeting.

Mollosia, who was heading the meeting, stood up to address the small crowd of micronations. When he spoke, he seemed energized, and cracked jokes every now and then, exhibiting his good sense of humor. He was like a younger version of Alfred, in looks and personality alike.

"…so, before we get on with the main topic of the meeting, does anybody have anything to say?" Mollosia chirped.

Sealand, Seborga, and Wy all shot each other surreptitious looks and stood up simultaneously.

"We have an important topic to bring up; however, we would like to wait until the end of the meeting to present our topic." Seborga said smoothly, not a hint of nervousness in his voice. Sealand tensed up, clutching the edge of the table. If this went through, then they would be one step closer to becoming actual countries. After they became countries, they would form an empire. England would rue the day he left him stranded in the ocean!

Molossia nodded absentmindedly. "Yes, I think we have enough time at the end…about 10 or 15 minutes time, to be exact. Now, continuing with the international recognition issue…"

Sealand spaced out for the entire duration of the meeting, wondering if his home was fine right now, and if Prince Roy was okay without him. He didn't like leaving the rusty fort alone for a long time, mainly because he was that rusty fort, and ever since the accident a few years back, he didn't like to be too far away. That anxiety would soon be resolved.

Soon enough, the time for their presentation was at hand. Sealand smoothed the lapels on his sailor suit, the new one Mom had bought for him, making himself presentable. Seborga and Wy also stood up, Seborga was cracking a joke while Wy hooked up the projector for their PowerPoint slideshow.

He stood next to Seborga as they watched Sheila angrily attempt to jam a flash drive into the laptop hooked up to the projector. Sealand glanced at Marcello sideways.

"Do you think this will work?" he whispered.

Marcello snorted, "it better! If not, our plan is gone and we can kiss the big picture goodbye!"

Sealand nodded nervously. Marcello was right, the whole plan depended on this. The plan was everything. If the plan failed…well, Sealand didn't want to think that pessimistically.

When Wy had finally set up the powerpoint correctly, he and Seborga stood to the side, letting her take the reaigns.

She turned to the first slide, which read: The Micro Empire of Seaborgy.

Seila paced along the length of the room.

"Sealand, Seborga, and I have decided to join our houses together to create an empire. While we don't need your approval for this, we would like it, and think it would be optimal for you to agree." She fingered a bit of her hair, which had a clump of paint in it. " If not…well, I may not be the oldest in here, but I know Seborga is. He has more experience than all of us put together. Sealand is also quite old, and while I am not, I am the brains and fire of this empire. Don't underestimate me, I was born because my boss didn't get his driveway!

She continued pacing the length of the room.

"Moreover, I would like to extend a hand to all of you to join us. Together, we can create an empire that can take over the entire earth and join all of the nations together. We can create the greatest empire since the Roman Empire. Any takers? Any questions?"

The Other World Kingdom was the first to speak up.

"What happens if we don't join?"

A dangerous glint flashed in Sheila's eyes. "You don't have to join, Antoinette. However, it would be optimal for you to join. I assure you, there will be a storm that will shake the world. We can all feel it, cant we? There's trouble brewing! Even calm Egypt has exploded in turmoil! At the end of the storm, the larger group will stand victorious. It is the natural order of things. We have our own natural selection Antoinette… and I think you would've seen that through the death of Latvia."

Antoinette paled considerably at Wy's short speech. " You don't mean to say that there is a war coming? You're surely joking! The nations are not so stupid as to start a war with the world's current nuclear condition! That would be akin to slow, painful suicide! What would possibly spark such ideas in their minds?"

Sheila looked at her, at all of them, steely eyed. "Death… If you guys hadn't noticed yet, all my small island nation brothers and sisters in Oceania have disappeared. Australia isn't doing anything about it either. Have you also noticed that Latvia is dead? Have you noticed that Molossia hasn't cracked a joke all day long? I'd wager a guess that California or Nevada has gone missing, no?"

Molossia turned as white as a slip of paper.

"Well Molossia? Are you gonna dignify us with an answer?"

He ran his hand through his hair, and a sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead.

"America told me not to tell! But its driving me nuts! Both of them have disappeared, and I don't know what to do!"

He laid his head down on the table. "I'm just SO tired! I've been covering for both of their work since they have disappeared, and it's so annoying!"

Molossia just remained with his head down on the table. Sealand angled himself at his audience which was now firmly fixed on the trio.

"So, will anyone be joining us? We can give you time to think about it, if you like. Your status would be a lot like a commonwealth, so you won't lose your title. It's like having a support system!"

Several micronations stirred and shrugged, murmering.

Seborga stepped in front of sealand, beaming. "We'll give you until the meeting next month to decide. Until then, we have some work to do."

They all left the meeting after that, leaving several confused micronations behind them.

x-X-x

Francis's funeral was a large flamboyant affair, filled with roses. He had always had stage presence, and despite his perverted tendencies, he was loved by many people. His funeral service was crowded with people: government officials, past lovers, friends, and other nations. He was to be buried in the countryside, as Paris had been burnt to a crisp. There were survivors, however, something that France would have liked to know.

There was a mass of foldable chairs stacked on top of wooden platforms, to keep them away from the snow, however; that didn't stop the cold winds from blowing around and making everyone shiver uncontrollably.

It was open casket, with a pearly white mask placed on top of his face to cover France's now-disfigured face. Roses were crowded into his casket, and Egypt had mournfully added his mother's touch to the burial. He had crossed France's arms across his chest, mummy style, in one hand a garden spade for farming, and in another a glass rose for beauty. Japan, who believed in ghosts, placed a cell phone in the casket, so France could "contact them from the grave".

England, who was bundled up in a black coat and scarf, also laid something in the casket with Francis. If francis was still alive, what England had held onto for so many years would've meant the world to him. Arthur regretted not giving it to him. In his trembling hands, Arthur had a small vial attached to a leather cord, and in the vial were the last remains of Joan of Arc.

It didn't look like much, just a few ashes in a glass vial, but Arthur owed this to Francis. He carefully leaned over and tied the leather cord to his neck. He then slipped the mask off his face and softly kissed his forehead.

"Farewell, friend." He whispered mournfully, slipping the mask back onto Francis's face. A tear slipped down his cheeks, Alfred, who was standing close by, watched silently and intently.

_I'm going to fix this, _he thought determinedly, as Arthur walked back to his chair, his shoulders shuddering every few seconds as he held back sobs.

_I'm going to find who murdered France. Because that's what heroes do! _

He looked around at the milling crowd. Russia stood out from them all, towering above the rest of the people. Alfred thought he saw him slip a tiny bottle of vodka into the casket, and then China came and took Ivan's hand and dragged him away, before he could make sure that he actually did slip a bottle of vodka into the casket.

Alfred had already left a funeral wreath at the gates of the churchyard where Francis was to be buried. He didn't want to get too close to the dead body, as they creeped him out.

After hymns were sung, and scriptures were read, they were ready to lower the casket. Seychelles had closed the casket, after stating that Francis was the closest thing she had known to a brother. After he was lowered into the ground, the other nations held clumps of dirt in their hands, and tossed them on top of the casket, until it was fully buried in a mound of dirt. Canada threw in the first handful of dirt, followed by Seychelles, who just looked down gravely.

A full hour after the service had ended and most people had gone home, a few remained at his gravestone. They consisted of America, China, Russia, and England, who were all staring at the grave as if France was about to jump out randomly from behind a bush and make a perverted comment about England's eyebrows, or the nature of England and America's relationship.

But he didn't, and the fact remained that without Francis, there was a lot less light in the Once-Allies. Not that Francis didn't have a dark side, they all did. But he was light hearted, and in the end, that was what had saved them from a dreary, homely lifestyle.

He was gone now.

England was the most affected though. It came partially from having known him the longest, and partially from being the one who had found his body.

_That's it_, America swore, _I'm going to find the killer!_

"Okay guys, when are we going to look for his killer!" America boisterously exclaimed.

China and Russia mulishly looked at him.

"We?" China inquired.

America nodded energetically.

"Yes, we. As in, us, The Allies?"

England and Russia sighed as they settled in to watch another argument between China and America.

"We haven't been the Allies in years, you ignoramus!"

"Who said we ever stopped being The Allies?"

"Since the Cold War!"

"So? We cant get back together then? You and Russia got back together. Even after the Sino-Soviet split!"

"Don't you dare bring that up, aru!"

"Damn Commie!"

"Stupid capitalist!"

"TWATS!" England yelled at the top of his lungs. They immediately ceased talking.

"Comrades should not fight. I am all for all of us becoming one again, da?" Russia said in his childishly menacing way.

England nodded. "Now, are we going to find France's killer, or not?"

And, all in unison the rest replied.

"We are."

"Good. We meet at Alfred's house tomorrow afternoon. Bring anything that you think is of importance."

* * *

><p>Majesty: Gahhh, my stomach hurts…<p>

Korea: What happened?

Majesty: Nothing salt-water taffy won't cure!

Korea: *facepalm*

Majesty: Thanks to my fabulous reviewers: EatSleepHetalia, The Iggy Cat, shadowraven45662, and AnonymousAmy!

Korea: Kudos to EatSleepHetalia for the first review, da-ze~! And to the reviewer of the week, The Iggy Cat!

Majesty: I love all of my readers! I love you all! Much thanks to my friend Kikibrown for looking over this!

To AnonymousAmy: I think that I've read that fanfiction so much it's affecting my writing... But it's got a different direction with what the killers want, some of their methods, and who they kill. Also, there are several mini plot-lines running through, and the pairings are different.

Korea: She had way too much fun writing for the killers.

Majesty: Their personalities come naturally to me, because at least a few of them act a bit OOC in front of their colleagues. But I honestly love Scorpio.

Korea: Which killer do you like the best so far? Is there anyone you want to see dead? Most importantly of all: Who do you think is a killer?

Majesty: As for pairings, I'll name them for you guys now! Since I know you want them~!

PruCan, AusHung, USUK, past!FranceJean, RoChu, GerIta, GiriPan, SeborgaWy, LietPoland, and SOME SURPRISES! I wanted some FrUk, but unfortunately, he had to die for the sake of the plotline...


	3. I'm not a killer, understand?

What's up guys~! I seriously love every single one of you lovelies...

Interesting facts about this chapter: It was SO annoying to write, barely anything I planned was in here, so consider it 'Semi'Epic'. Dont worry though, the epic will come in the form of chapters four and five~

I drew a teenage Sealand during this chapter. He looks SO adorable.

This was written while listening to the double rainbow song on loop.

Enjoy~!

* * *

><p><em>Life is a bitch. <em>_~The World_

Scorpio lolled around in his sleeping bag. A sliver of light shone through the cracks of the warehouse doorway, making it impossible to sleep, though it was not bright. The smell of mildew and rain sat lightly in the air, as small pitter-patter noises indicated that it was raining outside, albeit lightly. Oh, well, it was better than snow. Chicago was practically hostile, in the winter.

He unzipped the sleeping bag, feeling abnormally hot and stuffy in the sweater and coat that he had worn under the sleeping bag, and sat up, leaning against the wall. Scorpio instantly regretted getting out of his sleeping bag, as it was freezing in the warehouse. He knew that they were supposedly incognito, and were supposed to have a secret hideout and all, but that didn't mean that they had to sleep in a cold warehouse instead of a nice, warm hotel! But still, better to be cold than hot , that was his opinion.

He stood up, still leaning against the wall. He might as well take mental roll call, to see who was here or not. His eyes scanned the lumps of black sleeping bags.

First, a small lump curled up in the fetal position. Virgo? Check.

Secondly, an insane big lug, who was sleeping on top of his sleeping bag. That was definitely Libra. Check

Then two similarly sized figures, lying next to each other on the floor. Aww, that would be Capricorn and Pisces! Check and Check.

Facedown and bundled up in his sleeping bag was Cancer, sleeping soundly. Check.

The rest were gone, which was to be expected.

Wait. A. Bitching. Second.

Aquarius was gone as well, and Boss had left him in charge… Did that mean that by default, Scorpio was in charge now?

Damn straight, it did! At least, in his mind, that made perfect sense.

Grinning, he pulled his secret weapon out of seemingly nowhere. That weapon just so happened to be a bullhorn, which he then used to wake up the five Zodiac members present.

Needless to say, Virgo was pissed, and Cancer and Libra remained asleep. Capricorn and Pisces took it in stride, putting on coats and scarves, preparing to get out and get them breakfast. If Scorpio's attention span wasn't the size of a grain of sand, then he would've noticed how Capricorn protectively held onto Pisces' shoulder, or how Capricorn would casually brush hair away from Pisces' forehead.

Aww, how cute, Love between killers! Unfortunately, Scorpio was too occupied with annoying Virgo, who was currently trying to get him in a stranglehold, but failing because he was running around the warehouse and dodging all of her knives.

He threw his head back and laughed boisterously at Virgo, who was running after him like a homicidal maniac (which she was, have no doubt).

"Hey, Princess! I heard Virgo means virgin. Does that mean that you're a virgin?"

A knife whizzed past his head. He grinned and began picking up speed, now just a blur as he ran, occasionally hiding behind a crate or two.

Then, suddenly, he thought, 'what the hey? Let's play with her a bit!'

He hid behind a crate, waiting for the next knife to come whizzing past. Sure enough, when it did, four seconds later, he neatly plucked it out of the air and threw it back without hesitation. He ran after the dagger in the direction he threw it, just in time to see Virgo duck, and for him to glomp her.

"Aww, Virgo, you aren't any fun!"

Silence.

"Hey Virgo, go on a date with me?"

Silence.

"Oi, Virgo, I'm gonna feel you up if you don't say anything~!

Libra got up from his sleeping bag, stretching like a cat. "I think you're smothering her."

Scorpio loosened his grip on Virgo, and looked down at the girl. She gasped for breath.

"You're such an ass, Scorpio! Just leave me alone!" She exclaimed furiously, face flushed red.

Scorpio pouted. "Aww, then can we decorate our masks together? Ours are still kinda plain~!"

Libra walked over, ruffling both their hair, leaving Virgo disgruntled. "I think you should do it Virgo. You can't want to kill him all the time."

She looked at Scorpio darkly, and muttered, "I don't want to kill him ALL the time... Not when I'm asleep."

"I'm in your wet dreams?"

An awkward silence hung in the air, before Libra broke it.

"You know what? Kill him Virgo, you have all right to, the annoying little fucknut." Libra slowly walked to the bathroom at the back of the warehouse, his loping figure slumped over.

Scorpio raised a fist at his slowly retreating figure comicly, "What the hell Libra? What happened to defending me?"

Virgo sighed and put on her 'stoic' face and grabbed her mask from the top of a nearby crate. She nudged Scorpio with her foot half-heartedly, than gestured towards the crescent-shaped table.

Scorpio's eyes lit up. "Virgo! You actually want to play with me~!"

She rolled her eyes, "It's not playing, it's work."

"You wanna work with me~!"

Virgo was done within five minutes, after gluing a small ribbon onto the forehead of her mask.

"Why do we even have to wear masks anyway?" Scorpio asked, musingly staring at his mask.

Virgo shrugged. "I really don't know, but Boss wants us to, and we do what Boss wants us to."

"What Boss wants… seems scary." He said uncertainly.

Virgo cocked her head, filing her nails with a serrated knife. "Then why did you join us?"

"It seems like it would be scarier being the murdered, instead of the murderer. Besides that, I have a responsibility to my people. I'm not going to let them die," He murmured, while painting a red stripe across the nose of his mask.

She smiled, unexpectedly. "Who knew? Scorpio is actually responsible!"

He shrugged silently.

Her smile fell. "Scorpio? You seem…different. Strangely different today."

His head sank onto the table. "I got my first order from Boss yesterday. He wants me to kill Japan in two months."

A knife whizzed past his ear, and he caught it without even lifting his head.

"If you can catch that knife so easily, then killing someone should be no problem for you. Besides, its in two months! That gives you plenty of mental preparation time!"

Scorpio smiled, "Aww, Virgo! You really do care!"

Another knife flew over his head.

"Don't push it, you ass."

"I love it when you use dirty language~." Scorpio purred, waggling his eyebrows.

She flushed and slapped him, stomping off.

"Meh~, she wants me so bad." Scorpio shrugged, massaging his cheek where a red handprint was slowly taking shape.

Cancer came up from behind him, clapping his shoulder.

"I wouldnt be so sure about that bro, seems like she hates you."

Scorpio winked at Cancer, "They always do, before I get to them."

Cancer sighed halfheartedly, "Its your funeral bro. Well, I gotta go set up some bomb plans for the next few victims capitol cities, m'kay? So I'll be heading home for a while, to use my own system. I'll be back in a week. Do me a favor, If boss comes back, and I'm not here, message me and I'll come right away, m'kay?"

Scorpio nodded, "Gotcha. I doubt boss will come, but i'll tell you if he does."

Cancer walked off towards the door. When he reached it, he threw his head back and yelled. "Oi, Scorpio, have my share of breakfast, will you? Consider it payment for the favor!"

"Will do, Cancer~!" Scorpio saluted him mockingly, in a good natured way.

Libra walked past him, hands stuffed deep in his pockets. "Yo, Scorpio, I'm going home right now, my family is starting to suspect something."

Scorpio raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

* * *

><p>Lithuania moped around in Estonia's kitchen, fiddling with the edge of the file's folder while Eduard paced. The chair he was sitting in was uncomfortable and hard, and there was a small oil stain on his suit's sleeve now, courtesy of a spot of oil that Estonia had forgotten to wipe off his kitchen table.<p>

"We need more information." Estonia said, stopping his pacing. He leaned against the countertop, deep in thought.

Lithuania shrugged. "Where are we going to get that? We have to have some form of evidence against Russia or Belarus for killing Raivis. The problem is, France is dead now as well. We both know that Russia wouldnt want France dead, and Belarus wouldnt do anything that Russia wouldnt want. That doesnt rule them out completely, but it does make this entire thing suspicous. What does this killer, this 'Leo', hope to gain?"

Estonia shrugged, " I think that we should go to Latvia's house. The whole place is roped off, and wasnt caught in the fire that burned down Riga. The police still havent cleaned it up yet, so I think we should go check it out."

Toris cocked his head to the side. "When should we go?"

Estonia looked up from his shoes, "Right now. Just let me grab a bottle of water, and we can go."

"Gotcha."

* * *

><p>They stood on the barren street, staring at Raivis' house, roped off by luminescent tape.<p>

Eduard gestured towards the doorway. "Well? Are we going to go in?"

Toris patted the knapsack hanging by his side. "Yep."

They lifted up the tape and stepped under, walking silently to the door.

Toris felt like smacking himself. "We're going to break into his house? That just feels wrong, you know?"

Estonia sighed, "I know it feels wrong, but I have a key, and it's technically not sneaking if I have a key, right?"

"You have a key?" Toris asked disbelievingly.

Estonia looked a bit sheepish. "Yes, though Raivis never knew I made a copy of his house key. I thought it was for the best, just to check up on him sometimes if he wouldn't answer his phone."

Toris stared at him for a while, "You're a professional creeper, aren't you?"

"Shut up, and get inside the house." Estonia replied exasperatedly, sticking the key in the door and jiggling it open.

They stepped inside, met with the smell of dust and dry flowers, a scent that would've been Raivis, if you added a bit of Vodka in the mix.

Toris fidgeted uncertaintly. "Okay, where do we check first?"

Estonia paused. "Well... the official police report said that he was found outside, and the second floor window was open. But by the coroner's report, he seems to have been attacked. I think we should start here though, since there seems to be no form of forced entry. There is a broken window, but the shards are on the outside. meaning it was used as a getaway. It's unusual though, since it was on the second floor... but lets start with the first floor anyway. Lets split up to cover more ground, you go left, towards the kitchen, and I'll go search the living room."

Toris nodded and stepped into the hall that split towards the left. There was nothing different about the hallway, or the closet that he passed. When he got to the kitchen, there was a plate of stale food on the table and shattered plate on the ground. Toris fished a camera out of the depths of his knapsack, and took pictures of both.

"Eduard!" he called out, at the same time as Eduard yelled out "Toris! Come to the living room!"

He complied, and walked to the living room, clutching the camera in his clammy hand.

What did Eduard find?

Bloodstains, apparantly.

"These arent rather large..." Eduard pondered, crouching near the carpet. " They were probably from that arm wound we read about in the file, rather than the head injury.

Eduard pointed up the stairs,

"There's a trail though, and it leads upstairs. I found something else too, but i'll show you later." he said, a bit darkly towards the end.

Toris followed him as Estonia led the way up the stairs. He took special care not to step on the bloodstains that were splattered on the carpeted stairs.

Just the thought of Latvia alone in this house with a killer was daunting. But judging by the trail of blood and how it trailed around from room to room, Raivis hadnt gone easily. He had actually put up a fight for his life, by the looks of it.

They looked at the floor, then towards the still open window that Raivis had supposedly thrown himself out of. In the middle of the hall, you could see a huge dry bloodstain.

Estonia crouched down near the largest bloodstain. He lightly touched it, brushing his fingers againt it lightly.

"It seems like he was attacked right here, most likely the club to his head with the blunt object, since that seems to be the attack that killed him." He dragged his fingers across the line of splattered blood that lead to the window. "Then the attacker would have dragged him over to the window, and thrown him out." Eduard stood up, brushing his hands against his pants, looking at Lituania expectantly.

Toris tapped his chin, pondering what Eduard had just said. "What would be the point of making it look like a suicide though, if the killer didnt even cover their tracks? What would be the point in killing France as well?"

Eduard shrugged, "Maybe the killer wants to bait us into playing their little game. As for France... well, him and Latvia were both part of the EU. Maybe this killer is targetting the EU?"

"Wouldnt that make us targetted as well?" Toris asked, stricken.

Eduard nodded gravely. "That it would. But... we dont know if they are targetting the EU for sure. It could very well be ALL nations. What we do know, is that only a nation can kill another nation. Which means, someone like us is a killer."

Toris shivered, "I've been trying to avoid that aspect of the murders." He mumbled. "It just doesnt feel right suspecting our comrades."

"it isnt right to kill someone, yet one of our comrades did that." Eduard said coldly.

Toris looked up at Eduard, surprised at the flatness in his tone. "Eduard? What did you find earlier?" He asked curiously.

Eduard sighed and dug in his pocket, fishing out two plastic bags. On had two black pills in it, the other had a shiny gold coin with an inscription on it.

Toris reached for the coin, and had it placed in his hand by Eduard. He inspected it closely, tilting it in the faint light.

On one side, an arrow was engraved, and on the other side, the word 'Sagittarius', was engraved as well.

"What does this mean?" He asked, truly puzzled.

"Leo and Sagittarius..." Estonia mused. "Those would be two Zodiac signs. You know, like the horoscopes that Poland reads out loud from his magazines?"

Toris nodded, "So, what are the black pills?" He asked. Eduard's face instantly paled.

"Salmiakki." He whispered softly. "A type of Nordic treat. It's Finland's favorite kind of salmiakki too, he carries a box of it with him everywhere he goes."

Toris paled as well. "No," He whispered. "It cant be possible..."

* * *

><p>Alfred banged a gavel againt his desk, which made no sense, seeing as the group of nations in his study were perfectly in order.<p>

"I call this meeting of the New Era Allies to order! First on the agenda is: Roll call!"

England rolled his eyes, as did China. Russia indifferently ran a finger over his pipe.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Is that really necessary Alfred? There's only four of us. Lets just get to bussiness, shall we?" He ruffled around in the messenger bag that he had bought with him, bringing out a large, crisp, unbent manila envelope.

He set it on the table, with a light 'smack'. China looked a bit irritated at the noise, but didn't say anything.

England opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly two teenagers tumbled into Alfred's study. They both had Alfred's sandy blonde hair, and wore bomber jackets, with the numbers '19' and '22' on them. The one with the number '22' on their jacket was a teenage girl who held a banjo like one would hold a club, and the other a teenage boy who held a deflated basketball.

"Dad!" The boy complained. "Susanna popped my basketball! That's the third one this week!"

The girl snorted, clutching her banjo like it was a weapon and she was about to use it. "That's because Dan broke a string on my banjo and called me a hick!"

Alfred sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"Indiana. Alabama..." He addressed them, through gritted teeth. "I thought I put you guys in charge of babysitting Rhode Island, Maryland, and D.C.?" He asked.

"Er..." They looked sheepish, rubbing the backs of their heads.

"Well," Susanna started. "Indiana wanted to play basketball, but it was snowing outside. So he was all like 'lets just shovel the snow', and then we go into the garage to get the snow shovels and snow blower, and when we came out to get them, they were gone!" She said, a bit panicky towards the end.

Alfred's expression froze. " Find them. Quickly! Do you want another California and Nevada incident?" He hissed, frantic, his eyes buggy.

Dan saluted him, and ran off, throwing the basketball to the side.

Susanna lingered. "Dad..." she asked, nervously, a flash of fear flickering across her face, "Where are Nevada and California?"

A flash of panic ran across his face. "I'll tell you later. But go and find the others right now, I want state and territory roll call, in the living room, with all of you excluding Nevada, California, Alaska, and Hawaii, and the outlying islands. Alaska and Hawaii are also coming tomorrow morning, so don't forget to tell Delaware to pick them up from the airport tomorrow."

"Righto, dad." She propped the banjo against her shoulder and ran down the hallway.

Russia looked at Alfred. "America... Is it okay if I stay to see Alaska tomorrow? After all, tomorrow IS Sunday. We might want to uphold the agreement we had..."

China and England looked on confusedly as Alfred nodded.

"Agreement?" China asked puzzled.

"I'll explain later, after the meeting." Alfred said.

"Alfred... Where are Nevada and California?" England asked, fear trickling at the base of his neck.

He took a deep breath and pushed a strained smile to his face. In the light, he looked much older then he was supposed to. "Thats on the agenda, Artie. Until then, explain to us what is in the envelope, please." He said, in his 'meeting' voice.

Arthur looked at Alfred warily. "Very well..." He opened the folder, jiggling the note he had gotten the other day out of the folder.

He set it neatly on the table, letting the others read it.

China's eyebrows furrowed as he read the note.

"The Zodiac Killers? Why does that sound familiar?"

Alfred cocked his head. "Probably because it sounds like this one serial killer we had here in my house during the 70's. We still haven't caught him. But here…" He pointed at the signature at the end of the letter, "It says killers, as in plural, more than one killer.

He dragged his finger across the embossed symbols.

"Judging by these symbols, and their name, Zodiac, I would guess that there are twelve, each going by the name of their symbol."

They all stared at America.

"I thought he was an idiot, aru~! What happened!" China said, shocked.

Alfred just rubbed the back of his head. "Huh?"

England smacked his forehead.

Ivan just looked ahead happily, fidgeting with his pipe.

"So," Alfred stated, "Did you dust the note for fingerprints Artie?"

Arthur nodded. "Yes, there are none, other than my own."

Alfred bit his lower lip, deep in thought. "That means that they wore gloves."

"Obviously." England stated. He still felt as though there was something _off _about Alfred. But what was it?

"Dude, don't be snarky towards the hero!" A voice called out from under the desk.

Alfred sighed and dragged a brown haired ten year-old, also wearing a bomber jacket, with the number '38' on the back, out from under the desk.

"What the hell, Colorado? Get to the living room, we're doing roll call in a bit." Alfred said exasperatedly as he set the boy down and he ran off in a scurry.

"Just how many kids do you have Alfred?" China asked warily.

"Sixty-three. But not all of them live with me. My minor outlying islands and territories don't live with me, and Alaska and Hawaii only come around every weekend and on the holidays." Alfred stated proudly.

China's eyes bugged a bit. "Si-Sixty-three!"

"Going on to more important things…" England said. "I want to ask a question Alfred…"

"Go ahead and ask Artie!"

"It's the same question Susanna asked. Where are Nevada and California?" Arthur said, steely eyed.

America stared back, expression blank. "They've gone missing. I haven't seen them since Latvia's suicide."

Russia's head perked up. "What makes you think it was a suicide?" he asked.

America's eyebrow perked up with interest. "Are you implying that it wasn't?"

Russia shrugged. "I went over to his house after the funeral. There was blood everywhere, starting with the downstairs living room, then up the stairs, and to an open window. It make's sense to say he was killed, da?"

"But why make it look like a suicide? France's killer didn't even try to cover up the evidence!" China pondered.

Russia stroked his pipe like someone would stroke a cat. "Maybe they want to lure us in? It's a common scene for a trap. Set up a badly concealed 'suicide', let the ones you really want to kill step into your sticky web, and the trap is sprung!"

"So Latvia and France were pawns?" China asked.

"I would imagine so. It's just like a chess game… or a cannibalistic spider waiting in the shadow of the web. A nation has killed one of its brethren. We must find out who it is."

Alfred scratched his head. "Where do two of my kids going missing fit in to this, Russia?"

Russia laughed bitterly. "Isnt it obvious? They're trying to kill you. You are the United States of America, da?"

He nodded his head.

"Then, quite simply put, if the states aren't united, that leaves only America for the taking. Before they kill you, they must kill your states. If the states capitols are not in existence anymore, you can count them dead."

America looked down at his shoes sadly. "I thought so… but I-I hoped that it wouldn't be true. Either way, I'm keeping all of my kids near me for the time being."

He ran his hands through his hair and the rest looked at him sympathetically.

"So, what about Alaska is special?" China asked.

America looked at Russia from the side. "Well, he was originally Russia's, until he sold him to me to prevent him from being invaded. The thing is, the only place he borders is Canada."

"Who's that?"

"My northern twin brother. So, he stays with Canada most of the time, except for Fridays and the weekend. He stays at my house on Friday and Saturday, then spends Sunday with Russia. So, there's a sort of custody thing going on."

"We need to get back on topic." England said. "How are we going to find out the identity of who killed France?"

China brought out a few folded photocopies from inside his coat pocket and set them on the table.

"It's a few photocopies of France's post-mortem. I snuck into the morgue yesterday to take pictures of them, and a few of my people recreated them on paper. It's a bit disturbing, but we can handle it."

Russia held up a picture of an X-ray.

"He fell back" He said, eyebrows furrowing. "There's a dent on the back of his head, and a disc in his neck is dislodged."

China leaned back in his chair, "who was the last one to see him?"

England raised a finger in the air while still looking at the X-ray that Russia had handed him.

"That would be me. We were out drinking, and then he thought I was drunk because I started talking to my unicorn."

They gave him strange looks; he just ignored them, turning the picture to the side.

"He then said that he would have to drop me off at home, because there was 'a beauty waiting for him at home'."

China smacked his forehead. "And he doesn't even stop to think about how the person got into his home? I know that he doesn't give his keys to anybody!"

Russia just shook his head sadly. "but still, It starts with Latvia. I have been following –

"Stalking" Interjected China.

Russia scowled and gripped his pipe, but continued. "…Following Lithuania and Eduard, and they've been up to some suspicious things. Going to a coroner's office in Latvia, for one. Walking out of a building with the dead Latvian president in it, another. That was before the assassination was reported as well. And now, I have been told that control of Latvian land has been given to a new empire, the Empire of Seaborgy."

England's eyebrows crinkled (Alfred couldn't help think in fascination that they looked like hairy worms on his face). "The Empire of Seaborgy? I don't believe that I've ever heard of that nation before." He took a long sip of tea and puckered his lips before dropping a sugar cube in thee cup. He took another sip, listening to Russia as he did so.

"Well, apparently, it isn't just one nation- and they're not exactly official nations either. They are, I think, called 'micronations'? Da, micronations… Three of them. Seborga, Wy, and… Sealand, I think."

England spat his tea onto the glass table and America and China snickered.

"Wow, Peter's just a chip off the old block, no?" America said, grinning for a split second, and then wiping it off his face after England threw him a ferocious glare.

"You definitely think so, don't you? You and Japan- last I heard, you were both barons of Sealand? You think this si funny, don't you?" he turned towards Ivan, who was scratching some red paint off of his pipe. "How did they even get control of the Latvian land anyway?" He asked, flabbergasted.

Ivan looked up, a twinkle in his eye. "Apparently, they invaded. The replacement government building, that is. It was a smart move, invading a broken country, and taking the land by threatening the remains of the government. Admirable, even. Italy helped them take over, you know, by lending them some of his police force. That was a bit of a surprise, but what else would you expect? Seborga _is_ his little brother, da?"

"Invaded?" England scoffed. "Sealand couldn't invade a toothpick."

"How did we get on this topic, aru~!" China griped.

America looked at England. "Yo, England, is France's house still roped off, or did they clean up?

England looked up, surprised. "I don't think they would've cleaned up, it's been only three days…"

America raised an eyebrow, then announced "Okay, we're going to Frenchie's tomorrow~!"

England just rubbed his temples.

_This was a failure of a meeting..._

* * *

><p>The Baltic duo stood outside the door of the house in Åland that the Nordics shared. It was bright and cheery looking, with white trimming and a general happy demeanor that didn't suit the purpose that they were here for. The snow was piled on top of the roof, and the streets were clean of snow. The Baltics merely stood there for a while, unsure of what to do when they would confront Finland.<p>

Were they to carefully bait him? Come clean and be upfront about it? It was all very confusing, not to mention that Estonia and Finland were pretty much best friends.

Awkward didn't even begin to describe it, I mean, what was Eduard supposed to do, march into Tino's living room and say 'Waddup BFFL, so I totally think you killed my bro because I found your salty candy at the crime scene!'?

Like that would ever happen. No, the Baltics were going to handle this carefully. After all, if Finland really was a murderer, god knows what he would do to them. The Second World War had already proved that he was quite the sniper, and he was friends with Denmark and Sweden, both of whom were a bit intimidating.

Toris raised a slightly trembling hand and knocked twice. They waited for an anticlimactic second, and then knocked again. A crash resounded from inside the house, and Denmark opened the door, dressed in a frilly blue apron, with a bowl of cherry compote in his arms. A dog was biting his ankle and his leg was held up above the ground, letting the white dog dangle awkwardly.

"Yo, Eduard!" He greeted cheerfully. "and Lithuania! Come in, you're here to see Finland, right?" He shook his leg, trying to get the dog off, but failing.

"You can wait in the living room." He said, gesturing towards the room in question. Toris and Eduard sat down on one of the plain white couches, which were probably bought by Sweden from Ikea.

Denmark sighed and hopped to the kitchen on one foot, yelling "Finland! Get this dog off of me! Oh, and Estonia and Lithuania are here to see you!"

They heard another crash, then a '_No, Hanatamago, bad dog!' _then a _'Damn dog, get out of the kitchen before I shank you!' _another crash then a crying wail '_My Risalamande!'_

Toris and Eduard just blinked as Tino walked into the living room, cream on his hair and apron, and a wet dog in his arms. Sealand trailed behind him, also in an apron. He smoothed out his apron and sat down in a flounce, the dog settling in his lap.

"Eduard!" He said cheerily. "I haven't seen you in a while! How have you …" He trailed off, noticing the pained look on Estonia's face. His eyebrows furrowed suspiciously.

"You usually call before you come Eduard. No, not usually, always. What's wrong?" He said, urgency pressed into his question.

Eduard coughed and Toris fidgeted in anticipation.

"Well, there's no beating around the bush, is there?" Eduard said wryly. "Raivis didn't commit suicide, he was murdered."

Sealand clutched the armrest closest to him. "No!" He blurted, thick eyebrows furrowing. Finland held his other hand, pulling him back onto the couch. Sealand turned on him.

"Mom! Nobody would have wanted to murder Raivis! I cant believe these guys are saying that somebody would've wanted to kill 'im! He had no beef with anybody!" He said furiously.

Finland gave him a withering look. "Sealand, I'm not your mother. And, for once, just listen to what somebody is saying!" He turned towards Eduard. "Now, Eduard, I understand why you might be looking into Raivis' death… but why come to me about any matters concerning it?

Finland's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Unless… you suspect me?"

Their looks confirmed it, and Finland gave a sharp barking laugh. The Baltics shivered, and Sealand's was one of both anger and confusion. Sweden came into the room, dusting flour off his hands and sat in an armchair at the other end of the room.

Finland looked at the Baltics shrewdly, before laughing again, "Seriously? Did you bring any evidence? Well, you would've had to have found something to lead you here. Nobody would even put me first on their suspect list. Unless someone was shot from a distance, in which case, my sniping skills would put me on top of the list… either way, what did you find?" He said, eyes crinkling, threat hidden underneath his pleasant tone.

Eduard loosened his tie nervously, "We found salmiakki. Your favorite brand to be exact." He said, the words feeling silly coming out of his mouth.

Finland just smiled understandingly, "And you instantly thought of me, right? Understandable. However, I am not a killer. What can I do to make you think otherwise?" He said, cocking his head to the side and smiling sweetly. Sweden scowled, and Toris shifted uncomfortably. Something was very, very wrong here.

This was very awkward, and something told Toris that it was about to get much, much worse.

* * *

><p>So, how was it? I think I did a decent enough job, and we get a few clues as to who Libra could be here...<p>

*le gasp* Could Finland be Saggitarius? What do you think?

Thanks to all of you lovely reviewers~!: **RomaneLuka, Vine8Ky, AnonymousAmy, TheIggyCat, **, and **Galacticexplorer12**~!

Kudos to the reviewer of the week: **RomaneLuka **:D

Well, you've reached the bridge that leads you back to Fanfiction. However, there is a troll under the bridge that demands a toll in the form of a review~

So click that button and tell me what you think~ Love you guys, and until next time! Hasta la pasta~!


	4. Pretty Volatile

I Love you all! I feel so flattered that so many of you think so highly of my story. It nearly brings tears to my eyes. So, back from Europe, and schools started. Paris was lovely :) and so was Geneva and Valduz.

This chapter is mostly filler, but there is a bit of useful info here and there. Next chapter brings a bit of awesome, so prepare~

Much thanks to Kagomegirl2004 for beta-ing. Check out her stories guys, she's pretty awesome :D

* * *

><p>Pisces rummaged through a big wooden crate as Capricorn watched. She kept on tossing things over her shoulder without sparing them a glance. Finally, Capricorn's curiosity peaked.<p>

"Like, what are you looking for?" He asked, half curious, half bored.

She glanced at him before diving into the crate again, and answering: "Some type of gun or rifle. Anything that can shoot really. I've gotta kill some states today, and I wanna make it quick and relatively clean."

He nodded understandingly. "Then you might want to look in Leo's stash of things, I think he had a few revolvers in there."

She smiled at him gratefully and lifted a tarp off of a crate, which was labeled in bold letters: '**Leo's Things, property of Leo. Do not touch except for Leo.'**

Pisces sniggered and ripped the lid off. "He's a bit dramatic, isn't he?"

Capricorn allowed himself a smile. "We're all a bit theatrical, aren't we? I mean, if what you told me is correct, you didn't put on your mask until you stabbed France."

"Give me a break, okay? These masks suck! I'm pretty sure that people will be able to tell who we are just fine with them on!"

Capricorn sighed. "Boss is a thespian at heart… But still, he is our boss, no matter how 'good naturedly comedic' he is. When he gives the word, we like, have to obey."

She emerged from Leo's crate triumphantly brandishing two tiny pistols.

"Do you wanna come and help me? Boss wanted me to try something new. Also, these are Russian PSS silent pistols! When are you ever gonna get a chance to use one of these again?"

He slipped a soft, velour glove on his hand, then took the pistol and placed it in his pocket.

"Really? What is it?"

She twirled around, smiling radiantly. "Well, boss wants to see if we can kill someone, then burn down their capitol to make sure they dont come back. If it's possible, then we'll be saving ourselves a lot of trouble, and this whole mess is going to get a bit easier to make."

He paused. "I see no reason why it wouldn't work, as long as we destroy the cities before they killed are revived..." He paused again. "But what if it goes both ways?"

She smiled, "If it does, we still dont have to worry. The plan will already be in affect by the time they think to try and rebuild those cities. Oh, and we'll be seeing Leo. He's got our getaway car."

Capricorn shook his head and slipped on the second glove, flexing his fingers. They put on black jackets and put their hoods on, Pisces tucking her hair into the back of her jacket. They placed their masks on their faces, carefully tightening the straps. Advancing outdoors, Capricorn asked:

"How are we getting there?"

"Boss is sending a helicopter, and Leo is driving us back."

"Ah. Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Russia stood on Alfred's wraparound porch, leaning slightly against a wooden post. The snow was blustering around, and was biting at his cheeks, making them red and making his nose drip. Alaska was due to come home today though, and he wasn't going inside until Alaska coming inside with him.

He didn't know that he was being watched at the time, by a secretive killer named Leo. Nor did he know that Leo was hiding in the forest that bordered Alfred's backyard, watching him through binoculars. He could hear the drunken whisperings of General Winter in the wind, but not the rustling of leaves from the shrubs at the edge of the forest.

He didn't know that he was being stalked.

But how could he know that he was being stalked? Leo was pretty good at these things, and Russia was usually the stalker, not the victim (unless Belarus was involved). That is not to say that Russia had a hit placed on his head right now, oh no. They wouldn't be able to kill Ivan until Boss gave the word. But that didn't mean Leo couldn't have his fun stalking Russia and imagining how he was going to tear him apart, limb from limb, no?

Alaska arrived around noon time, stepping out of Delaware's beat up Saab with Hawaii, who instantly rushed inside to get away from the cold. Alaska lingered near Delaware, helping him hoist his duffel bag out of the trunk, and then trudged up to Russia, wrapping his skinny arms around him.

"I missed you, папа." He breathed, as Russia patted him on the back and smiled slightly. Just _slightly_.

China watched from the window. The young boy seemed a mix of three different people. He was light haired like Russia, and had his soft voice, but his eyes were a sky blue like America's. His personality, however, was utterly different then the two of them. He seemed shy, and slightly invisible. Did he know somebody like that? China racked his brains, knowing that there was someone Korea had mentioned that was just like that…

Caribou?

Canary?

Canajou?

Canadia?

Canada! That was it; Alfred mentioned that he had a brother that lived up north…

China shook his head, ponytail swishing back and forth. Why was he wasting time thinking about this? He should be finding out who killed France…

He strode over to the living room, where a couple of states were playing Texas hold 'em on the coffee table. China spared them a glance, and then walked down the hallway. After a while of walking, He looked around confusedly. He had meant to go back to Alfred's study, but he must have gone into the wrong hallway, because these doors were all numbered.

China leaned against a door, thinking about who could've held a grudge against France (and coming up with a long list). However, when he leaned back, he heard murmering inside the room. Curious, yet feeling slightly ashamed of himself, he pressed his ear to the door.

The murmuring grew a bit louder, but only a bit. America and England's voices crept through the oak door just loudly enough for China to hear if he strained himself.

"America, I don't see what I did wrong in raising him! He's a sea fort, not a country, so does that even give him grounds to form an empire?"

He heard America sighing, then a rustling sound.

"The grounds for forming a nation include the basis of it being on solid ground. By banding with Seborga and Wy, he technically_ is_ on solid ground. From what I've heard, they're using Sealand as a 'naval base', without the actual navy."

"This is all your fault America! You and Japan made his head big by buying titles of nobility from him!"

"Hey! I like being a baron of Sealand!"

"It's not even official! He's not a country!" England bellowed. China backed away from the door a bit, his ear ringing.

A spell of silence followed before America spoke.

"Keep on neglecting us, and we'll keep on leaving you England. That's what Iraq told me."

"Oh, is he still talking to you? I keep on forgetting how many times he can make it clear that he hates you." England retorted

"He doesn't hate me!"

"Hm, ruining him to the point of insanity?"

"Oh, at least he doesn't hate me as much as you! You tried to stomp down his nationalist movement, and sided with the minority in his country!" America paused, as if having an epiphany. "Wait, did Iraq ever have anything against France? He's perfectly capable of killing someone, the dude is like a BAMF."

"Oh, again with the 'Axis of Evil'?" England coughed. "Find any weapons of mass destruction lately?"

"Shut up! Now answer me, did Iraq have anything against France?"

"No, as far as I can tell. He doesn't like you very much though, and he won't want either of our 'help' in the future. Why do you even suspect him anyway?"

"He's been acting sorta suspicious lately, and I'm due to visit him soon."

"Fat load of good that'll do both of you. Iraq isn't up to anything; all he does these days is play his oud and zither."

"Maqam music? Meh, whatever. All I'm saying is that he's been acting strange lately, and that we should check it out. Either way, it's a start. Speaking of checking stuff out, did you check out the evidence stuff with France's murder?"

" A start? We don't have any evidence to pin him as a suspect. All of the 'stuff' was presented yesterday. There's nothing else…except…"

"Except what?"

"Germany was there. Before me, that is. His car was running outside-"

China felt a hand wrap around his shoulder before he registered the shock. He turned around, and a concerned Hawaii stood behind him.

"You okay?" He asked. "You look like you've just a ghost."

China shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

Hawaii furrowed his eyebrows, which China noticed, were thick and bushy. "They were having an Iraq and Sealand argument again, weren't they? I can tell, because nobody is in their room, or this hallway, except Dad." He pointed to the room they were in front of.

China remained silent, and Hawaii looked at him appraisingly, then a mischievous twinkle came into his eyes.

"You know… if I was searching to the answer for something, I'd go to the beginning. To where it started. You gettin' my drift here man?"

"Huh?"

Hawaii groaned theatrically and grabbed China's shoulders. "Dude! If you want to find out who's killing everybody, start at the beginning!"

China stared at him. "What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

Hawaii looked around nervously. "I've said too much. I wasn't supposed to say anything in the first place… I-I gotta go look for Tony the Alien." He scurried down the hallway in a flash of flowered patterned shirt and shorts. China just blinked confusedly, and then thought for a second.

_Go back to the beginning… The beginning of the murders. That would be Latvia…_

By the time he had walked out of the hallway, he already knew that soon, he would be at Latvia's house following Hawaii's advice to 'go back to beginning'.

Yet a small thought festered at the back of his mind, annoying him to his wit's end.

_Why was Germany the one to find France?_

China set off to find Russia. He needed to ask something.

He had found Russia and Alaska sitting outside in the cold, which made sense in a way, given their climates.

But China knew that Russia hated the cold, and preferred warm climates to his own blistering cold weather.

He strode up to them, smiling slightly. Russia looked up and smiled back, Alaska remained silent.

"How about you come in for some tea, aru~? It's too cold out here."

China leaned against the stove as he waited for the water to boil. It was deadly silent in the kitchen, except for the clicking of Russia playing with the latch of his metal flask. Alaska had his forehead pressed to the window. Suddenly, he broke the silence that surrounded them.

"папа... I have been hearing things. Stange things, about an empire of sorts... Uncle Matthew calls it 'the week old empire'. What exactly happened?"

The kettle began whistling and China lifted it from the stove, setting it on top of a flattened tea cozy. He lifted the lid and dropped a few tea leaves in, waiting for them to steep as he listened to Russia.

"Well, apparently three micronations formed an alliance, effective ten days ago, called it an empire, then invaded Latvian land by threatening the remains of the old government. All in all, very admirable, da? Especially in such a short time, it seems like this empire was planned for quite a while, to be in such great working order."

Alaska shook his head in agreement. "Uncle is always the first to formally recognize independent countries...and... he's thinking about giving them formal recognition.

China's eyes widened. "Has Canada gone mad? That would be like a death wish from England!"

Russia snorted, "Matvey is strong, he can handle himself. He was the first to recognize those who left the Soviet Union. He's stronger then his brother. Just in a different way."

"Oh, by the way, Uncle has been acting really strange lately... I barely see him, and sometimes he'll come home in the dead of night, almost always wearing black."

If Russia was alarmed, then he didnt show it, he simply smiled and chipped more red paint off of his pipe.

China took out three cups and poured the tea to the brim. This was an interesting development... he'd have to watch Alfred's brother closely from now on. But still, currently, the attention would have to go to the first death, like Hawaii had said.

He set the cups on a tray and carried it over tot he table, setting it down gently. They all clasped a cup and sipped, remaining in silence.

China set his cup down, after taking a sip, and turned towards Russia.

"We need to go- "

"To Latvia's House, I know. The new government wants to clear up the scene of the... suicide or murder, whichever you'd prefer to call it, and this might be our last chance to get something out of this."

China nodded. "We leave tomorrow."

Taurus looked at his phone when it vibrated, signaling the arrival of a text message. he looked at the address, and instantly clutched at his hair. It was an illegible jumble of letters, numbers, and symbols, but he knew who it was from.

With quivering fingers, he clicked on 'Open SMS'.

**Taurus: You take care of Spain in a few days. Remember to go with the plan, just like we agreed, okay?**

**-O**

Boss. That damn elusive nation in charge.

His cell phone dropped to the floor, and he crumpled down in a heap after it, falling into a fetal position, shuddering with tears and sobs.

_Just how did I get into this?_

* * *

><p>So, question for you guys~ I want to up the gore, but then I would have to up the rating. I want your opinion on whether I should up the ante or not, because my target audience is you, and I wish to please your minds :D<p>

I love you beautiful reviewers :D

, Queen of Black Cats, FortuneCookiesAru, Xaria or Dreampaw, Classified What, Catching Tomorrow, Mossears of Riverclan, Anonymous Amy, Darker Than Black12, and RomaneLuka~!

Special props to Catching Tomorrow for review of the week :D Your review was very touching, and I love you.

Classified What: At the time I started writing this, I had never heard of it. At the beginning of chapter three, I discovered Higurashi, and I'm hooked :D

Click that lovely review box and give me your feedback~!


End file.
